User:Erajuliet

The C-to-C roll is one of the most commonly taught whitewater kayak rolls. It is the kayak roll that uses the same principles of technique that are used in bracing and hand rolling. The C-to-C roll came about in the early 1970's, when a whitewater kayaker by the name of Ken Kastorff began working with the C-1 roll,experimenting with the technique of using the same efficient body mechanics and sweeping the paddle out to the side in mid air prior to hip snapping the boat up right. Breaking from earlier rolls, the C-to-C roll placed an emphasis on keeping the paddle blade on the surface of the water during the sweep portion of the roll. This was achieved by bending the head and torso up to the surface of the water as the paddle swept out to perpendicular.

HISTORY OF THE KAYAK ROLL The kayak roll was used by the Eskimos of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Most likely the roll practiced was something like the classic extended paddle roll or "Potawatomi Roll". Both of these rolls are done while hanging onto the end of the paddle blade which gives more leverage to roll. In addition, the Eskimos used a "Lay Back" style of roll. This means that when they finished the sweeping motion of the paddle out to the side of the kayak, they were leaning back as far as possible to lower their center of gravity. Lowering the center of gravity made it easier to roll.

When whitewater kayaks came on the scene in the late 1950's and early 1960's, those paddlers that could roll continued using much the same types of rolls as the original eskimos. Even now there are paddlers that will go to the extended roll, or as they refer to it in Europe the "Farmer Roll" if their regular roll fails them. The most common roll practiced up to 1976 was the sweep roll.

Once kayaking evolved into running more white water and paddling shallower and steeper rivers, the back deck roll became less practiced because of the fact that it could lead to great exposure of the face and injury. The whitewater roll evolved into an execution of using efficient body mechanics while still keeping the paddler protected.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE C-TO-C ROLL The C-to-C roll evolved from the C-1 roll. In the early 1970’s Kastorff was participating in winter pool slalom events in Wisconsin. Teaching the roll was all one motion and it was hard to break down. He himself had learned a C-1 roll so that he could compete in C-1 class competitions. After executing successful C-1 rolls, Kastorff began to work through adopting the C-1 roll to the kayak. When executing a C-1 roll, the paddle swings out perpendicular to the side while in mid air, then flipping the paddle over into a low brace and hip snapping. It seemed that if that could be done with a kayak, the roll would be stronger and more reliable. Getting into a kayak, Kastorff tried the same set up as a C-1 roll prior to doing the hipsnap, then used the same hipsnap motion, only arching the back rather than coming forward. The adaptation just changed the timing of what people were doing with the roll at the time. At that point Kastorff started implementing it in teaching and found he was teaching people much more quickly and they uinderstood what they were doing. When he arrived at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in 1975, he brought the principal with him. Soon he had the reputation that he could “teach anyone how to roll.” There were people on the NOC staff that he would bet a steak dinner that if he could teach them how to roll in less than 30-minutes, they had to buy him a steak dinner. There were many steak dinners enjoyed by the creator of the C-to-C roll.

NAMING THE C-to-C ROLL The name of the C-to-C roll was inspired by the side-to-side body movement used in the hip snap portion of the roll.

ROLL MECHANICS The C-to-C roll is a classic example of an efficient roll that uses the many of the same mechanics and muscle memory as other techniques, including bracing and hand rolling.

A properly done kayak roll should take little or no effort and ties into other paddling skills like bracing and hand rolls. The C-to-C roll can be easily outlined into four steps: The Set Up The Sweep The Hipsnap The Finish A successful execution of the four steps rewards the paddler with a right-side-up position.